f. kent reilly - the lazys a formative period iconographic loan to maya hieroglyphic writing

8/8/2019 F. Kent Reilly - The LazyS a Formative Period Iconographic Loan to Maya Hieroglyphic Writing

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Iconographic analysis of the recentlydiscovered Monument 31 from the highland siteof Chalcatzingo demonstrates for the first timethat at least by the Middle Formative Period(900-500 B.C.), the Lazy-S motif, like its ClassicMaya counterpart, was associated with both cloudsand bloodletting. Although the Lazy-S motif fig-ures prominently in the iconographic corpus atChalcatzingo, until the analysis of Monument 31no context existed for its meanings. The monu-

ment depicts raindrops falling from the motif,hence a strong support for a cloud identification.Immediately below the Lazy-S cloud, a carvedfeline rips a victim apart, surely a strong argument

for a bloodletting association. With Monument 31sclose iconographic association between clouds and

bloodletting, we find not only one of the longest persisting clusters of symbolic communication inthe history of Mesoamerica, but further evidence of the Classic Mayas meaningful use of the FormativePeriod legacy.

In their ground breaking article A Decipher-ment of Epi-Olmec Hieroglyphic Writing, Justesonand Kaufman demonstrated that the recently iden-

tified Epi-Olmec or Isthmian hieroglyphic scriptinscribed on La Mojarra Stela 1 was the writingsystem of a Late Formative Period Mixe-Zoqueanspeaking population. The authors also stated thatthe script may itself descend from an Olmec hiero-glyphic system, but too little of the Olmec scripthas been recovered to confirm or disprove a con-nection (1993:1703). However, if evidence sup-

porting the existence of an Olmec writing system islimited, evidence for the Olmec symbol system thatwould be the precursor to such a writing system isabundant.

More specifically, even though 700 yearsseparates the demise of Olmec culture from thatof the Classic Period Maya civilization (A. D.200900), the central relationship of Olmec sym-

bols to the art and writing of the Maya and other later Mesoamerican cultures has been recognized

by researchers since Covarrubias (1946). Certainly,iconographic investigations of specific elementsof the Olmec symbol system have shown themto be directly ancestral to major elements in thesymbol system of the Classic Period Maya (Coe1965,1976; Joralemon 1971, 1976; V. Fields 1989,1991; Reilly 1990, 1991). However, it is with therecent discovery of Monument 31, a Middle For-mative Period sculpture from the highland site of Chalcatzingo that, for the first time, an elementof the Olmec symbol system can be shown to con-vey a meaning almost identical to that of a ClassicMaya hieroglyph T632, (fig. 1a).

The central curly-Q or Lazy-S that com- prises the main element of T632 was originallyinterpreted by Stuart as a blood scroll (1988:203-204). More recently Stone (personal commu-

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The Lazy-S: A Formative Period Iconographic Loan to MayaHieroglyphic WritingF. KENT REILLY, IIISOUTHWEST TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY

Fig. 1 a. The Classic Maya hieroglyph T632 (redrawn from Thompson, 1962:248). b. Left scene, Page 68a,the Dresden Codex (after Villacorta and Villacorta1976: 456). Streams of water fall from a T632/muyal onto one of a pair of Chacs seated atop a sky band.The water continues falling through the sky band intothe space below thus strongly suggesting that theMaya celestial realm was a layered configuration.


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nication to MacLeod 1991), Houston and Stuart(1990) have independently read T632 as muyal or cloud. As Stuart and Houston have observed (n.d.),

besides the phonetic and semantic proofs that makethe muyal reading possible, the iconographic asso-ciation of the T632 main sign with a cloud inter-

pretation is supported in the Dresden Codex (fig.1b): On page 68a of this Post Classic document,two of the central, curly-Q elements of the T632/muyal are positioned above two Chacs, who areseated back to back on top of a sky band. One of thetwo Chacs is drenched in the liquid that falls fromthe T632/muyal immediately above. Certainly, inthis instance, the curly-Q main sign of T632 defi-nitely appears to be functioning as a rain cloud.

Houston and Stuart (1990, Stuart and Hous-ton 1994), and Stone (1993) have noted that themain sign of T632 occurs as an iconographic ele-ment in the headdresses of Maya deities and rulers;Stone has not only linked this cloud diadem spe-cifically with the headdress worn by the Maya raindeity, Chac, but also suggests that the T632/muyalcan function as part of a celestial toponym (1993).Stone, convincingly argues, that the sky realm iden-tified by this toponym, Ho Muyal, is the celestiallocation of royal ancestors, and a certain category

of meteorological deities (Stone 1993).A Formative Period (1200-500 B. C.)

Olmec-style symbol strikingly similar to the T632main sign is the Lazy-S symbol (F. Fields 1967:34, fig. 37). Examples of this Lazy-S motif in theOlmec Gulf Coast heartland are scarcealthough

this may be an accident of the limited archaeo-logical evidence. Despite this scarcity, San LorenzoMonument 7 (fig. 2a), is a dramatic example thatthe heartland Olmec knew and used the Lazy-S(Coe and Diehl 1980: Vol. I, 312). In the case of this San Lorenzo sculpture, the Lazy-S is carvedon the left flank of a headless couchant feline. The

pairing of the Lazy-S symbol with a feline zoo-morph will become particularly important as weexamine the much more plentiful examples of theLazy-S on the sculpture at the Formative Periodhighland site of Chalcatzingo.

The best known of the Chalcatzingo relief

sculptures is Monument 1. A structural analy-sis of Monument 1 reveals the central positionof the Lazy-S element within the overall sculp-tural composition. Chalcatzingo Monument 1 is aOlmec-style bas-relief, located on the talus slopeof an eroded cleft-volcanic core that rises aboveChalcatzingo. Chalcatzingo Monument 1 (fig. 2b)depicts a centrally placed, seated human figurewearing a tall headdress and long tunic. The seatedfigure is positioned within the gaping jaws of a giant zoomorphic supernatural which is oftenidentified as a cave monster (Grove 1968, 1984;Angulo 1987). The elaborately costumed human

figure is seated on a bench or throne in the shape of a Lazy-S scroll; in his arms the human figure alsoholds a Lazy-S in a ceremonial bar posture.

By placing this human figure in the

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Fig. 2 a. San Lorenzo Monument 7 (redrawn after F. Dvalos G. in Coe and Diehl, 1980, vol. I: 312, fig. 430). b. Chalcatzingo Monument 1 (drawing by Frances Pratt in Gay 1972: 41, fig. 11).

Fig. 3 The Chalcatzingo Lazy-S/Cloud substitution set (drawn by the author).


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mouth of this zoomorphic cave monster, the art-ist used the metaphor of the gaping maw to definethe location of the seated figure as the junction of the natural and supernatural worlds (Angulo 1987,Reilly 1990). In other words, the gaping maw is a

portal between the natural and supernatural worlds.Above the seated figure and the gaping maw portal,are two depictions of sprouting vegetationper-haps maize. Above this vegetation, presumably inthe sky are three sets of triple-layered clouds. Fromeach of these cloud sets falls a curtain of heavyrain, with no indication that this rain curtain ever hits the ground. Anyone who has spent time in the

Mexican highlands, or the U.S. Southwest, is famil-iar with the phenomenon of rain, falling in curtainsfrom thunderheads, but evaporating before hittingthe ground. Falling from these same layered cloudmotifs, but this time descending onto the ground,are exclamation point-shaped raindrops that appear to water sprouting vegetation.

The great scrolls of smoke or mist thatemerge from the gaping maw of the cave monster have been interpreted as the emerging clouds

which have entered the cave to become fertil-izedand thus become the source of the rain (Gay1972: 38; Grove 1984: 110-111). According tothis interpretation, the central, elaborately dressed,seated figure within the gaping maw portal islinked both to the supernatural otherworld and the

life sustaining rainfall.The question now arises as to the relation-ship between the Lazy-S elements, so prominentlydisplayed on Chalcatzingo Monument 1, and T632,the Maya muyal or cloud glyph. In order to answer that question, I must propose a simple principle of iconographic substitution similar to the principleof substitution which is used in hieroglyphic deci-

pherment. The principle of substitution in Mayahieroglyphic writing states that if one has twoindependent signs which substitute for each other in the same glyphic context, then they are prob-ably phonetically equivalent (Thompson 1944;

Schele 1992: 11-12). My proposed principle of iconographic substitution would argue that if twoor more symbolic elements substitute for each

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Fig. 4 The Chalcatzingo Water Dancing Group(drawn by the author after photographs taken by theauthor and comparisons made to Angulo V. in Grove1987: 133, figs. 10.1, 10.2; 134, figs. 10.3, 10.5; 135,

fig. 10.4).

Fig. 5 Chalcatzingo Monument 31, (drawing by theauthor after a photograph by Logan Wagner).


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other in a similar iconographic context, then they probably carry similar, if not exact, meanings. AtChalcatzingo, the major elements of my proposediconographic substitution consist of the Lazy-S,the phallic rain drops, and the cloud symbol fromChalcatzingo Monument 1 (fig. 3). I propose thatthe substitution set established from these symbolswill not only help to identify the meaning of theFormative Period Lazy-S symbol, but will alsoallow a possible identification of the individualseated on the Lazy-S throne on Monument 1.

As I have pointed out, the phallic-shapedraindrops falling from clouds are a prominent

feature in Chalcatzingo Monument 1. However,Monument 1 is not the only Chalcatzingo monu-ment that contains the Lazy-S element or phallic-shaped rain drops. Separated from Monument 1 byonly Cerro Chalcatzingos primary natural runoff channel (Grove 1984: 45) is a series of reliefs cur-rently identified individually as Monuments 11,8, 14, 15, 7, and 6. These boulder carvings arecollectively classified, along with ChalcatzingoMonument 1, as a part of Monument Group I-A

(Angulo 1987). Monuments 11, 8, 14, 15, 7, and 6are, in some areas, badly eroded but share a themewhich links supernaturals and vegetative fertility(Gay 1972; Grove 1968, 1984; Grove and Angulo1987; Angulo 1987). These rock carvings, hereaf-ter referred to as the Chalcatzingo Water Dancing

Group, are comprised of five individual symbols: phallic-shaped rain drops, single leveled clouds,zoomorphic supernaturals, squash plants, and theLazy-S (fig. 4). From three of the single leveledclouds fall phallic-shaped raindrops. Below theserain clouds are positioned small saurian supernatu-rals perched atop Lazy-S elements. In the case of three of these saurian supernaturals, double scrollsemerge from their closed mouths. Beneath three of Lazy-S elements which support the saurian super-naturals, three squash plants are depicted as grow-ing out of the living rock.

The four rain clouds in the Water Dancing

Group differ from those depicted on Monument1 in two ways. Whereas the rain clouds on Monu-ment 1 are tri-leveled and have a realistic, almostcomb-shaped, depiction of rain falling from them,the clouds depicted in the Water Dancing Groupare single leveled and only drop phallic-shapedrain drops. Thus within the context of the WaterDancing Group, there can be little doubt that the

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Fig. 6a Chalcatzingo Monument 31, (drawing by theauthor after a photograph by Logan Wagner). b. and

page 68a of the Dresden Codex. Left scene, Page 68a,the Dresden Codex (after Villacorta and Villacorta1976:456). Streams of water fall from a T632/muyal onto one of a pair of Chacs seated atop a sky band.The water continues falling through the sky band intothe space below thus strongly suggesting that theMaya celestial realm was a layered configuration.

Fig. 7 Chalcatzingo Monument 4 (drawn by theauthor). Note the similarity of the symbol contained in the ear of the upper feline on Monument 4 and the

feline ear on Monument 31.


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phallic-shaped rain drops fall directly from theclouds overhead.

Directly below the rain clouds are posi-tioned saurian supernaturals which in two instances,and possibly three, are depicted with raised heads,and in two instances raised tails. From the mouth of

at least three of these saurian supernaturals, emergedouble scrolls, highly reminiscent of the speechscrolls depicted in the Postclassic codices. All fiveof the saurian supernaturals are placed atop Lazy-Selements. Beneath these saurian supernaturals sup-

porting Lazy-S elements are depicted at least threesquash plants in different stages of growth.

So far we have seen the Lazy-S element,cloud symbols, and phallic-shaped rain drops associ-ated on two major Chalcatzingo bas-reliefs. On bothof those monuments, the theme is the interaction of the natural and supernatural realms for the pur-

pose of vegetative fertility. The newly discovered

Chalcatzingo Monument 31 (fig. 5) takes major elements of this fertility theme, the Lazy-S and the phallic-shaped rain drops, and links them with thethemes of felines and bloodletting. More impor-tantly for my hypothesis, however, Monument 31

provides the context to identify the Lazy-S as aFormative Period cloud symbol. Monument 31,approximately one meter tall, is a stela-like slab of rock. It was recently uncovered during a generalsite clean up at Chalcatzingo. It depicts a feline rip-

ping apart a human victim, above which three phal-

lic-shaped raindrops fall from a Lazy-S. Certainlythis substitution of the Lazy-S for the cloud symbolis strong support for a cloud identification for theLazy-S. There is also a strikingly thematic simi-larity between Chalcatzingo Monument 31 andPage 68a of the Dresden Codex. In the Dresden

(fig. 6) rain falls from a T632/muyal onto the raindeity, Chac. On Chalcatzingo Monument 31, theexclamation-point-shaped raindrops fall from aLazy-S shape onto a supernatural; however, on thisMiddle Formative monument, the supernatural is afeline in the act of ripping a victim apart.

The supernatural identification of this fero-cious feline is supported by two iconographic ele-ments, a flame eyebrow and an element carried inits ear which has been compared by some scholarsto the Venus or Lamat glyph of the Classic PeriodMaya (Grove 1972: 157; and Angulo 1987: 121).This element also appears in the ear of a feline on

Chalcatzingo Monument 4 (fig. 7 ). The feline onMonument 4 is one of a pair, both of which arerendered with flame eyebrows and are depicted inthe act of ripping apart a human victim. However,only the upper feline carries the same ear elementas the feline depicted on Monument 31. The factthat felines on monuments 31 and 4 both carrythe symbolic element in the ear and that both areshown in the same sanguinary act suggests that thetwo sculptures depict the same supernatural feline.

Applying my principle of iconographic

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Fig. 8 The Lazy-S/feline substitution set (drawn by the author). The felines depicted on San Lorenzo Monument 7 and Chalcatzingo Monument 31 both are positioned in relationship to the Lazy-S symbol. Chalcatzingo Monument 4and 31 both depict felines that bear a symbol in their left ear which several scholars have pointed out is similar tothe Classic Maya Lamat/Venus hieroglyph.


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substitution to feline representations from the For-mative Period sculptural corpus, at least threefeline images can be shown to be associated withthe Lazy-S, the feline ear symbol, and bloodletting(fig. 8). San Lorenzo Monument 7 bears the Lazy-Son its flank. Chalcatzingo Monument 31 depicts theLazy-S dropping phallic-shaped rain drops above afeline who is depicted in the act of savagely dismem-

bering a human victim. The Monument 31 feline,among its other supernatural attributes, carries aspecific symbolic element in its ear. ChalcatzingoMonument 4 also carries the image of a savagefeline who is depicted in the act of destroying a

human victim and who carries the same symbolicear element as the feline on Monument 31. PerhapsSan Lorenzo Monument 7 would carry the sameear element if its missing head were found. Thus bytwo examples of direct evidence, and one exampleestablished through substitution, the Lazy-S ele-ment, felines, and bloodletting are combined into asymbolic complex of sacrifice and fertility.

Now that we have seen the Lazy-S func-tion iconographically in a similar manner to T632/

muyal, I believe that a strong case can be made for a middle Formative Period iconographic loan to thehieroglyphic writing system of the Classic PeriodMaya. However, the Lazy-S symbol cannot be leftwithout taking note of the obvious question as towhy two cloud symbols were needed in the icono-

graphic corpus of the Middle Formative Period. AsStone (1993) has suggested, the Lazy-S not onlysymbolizes cloud, but it also functions as a sym-

bolic designator for a specific level of the sky.Stone, in her analysis of the inscription on

the Cleveland Museum plaque, suggests that for the Classic Period Maya, T632/muyal could notonly be read as simply cloud, but could be usedmetaphorically as a sky realm associated withancestors (1993). Stone also cites contemporaryYucatecan sources which identify the word muyal as a name for one of a number of heavenly levelslocated between the earth and the sun. According

to these Yucatecan sources, this muyal celestiallevel is both a location for ancestors as well as for meteorological events (Stone 1993). Stones skylevel interpretation of T632 as a sky level toponymis iconographically supported by the same illustra-tion in the Dresden Codex which helped in theiconographic identification of muyal as cloud.

On page 68a of the Dresden Codex, amuyal glyph is shown dropping rain on one of twoChacs who are seated back to back; however, thesetwo Chacs are seated on top of a sky band, (see fig.6). Moreover, the rain which falls from the muyal onto the Chac continues falling through the sky

band into another space thus strongly supporting both the concept of a layered sky, and the hypoth-esis that in certain contexts the muyal identifies acelestial level which is somehow different fromthe sky band itself. Iconographic composition of

page 68a of the Dresden Codex is somewhat analo-

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Fig. 9 Crocodilian Water Dancing which occurswith the social displays of bellowing and headslap(redrawn from Vliet 1989:1021 fig. 1d; 1025, fig 6d.).The real life posture of raised head and arched tail is very similar to the postures of several of the zoo-morphic supernaturals depicted in the ChalcatzingoWater Dancing Group.

Fig. 10 Chalcatzingo Monument 5 (drawn by theauthor). The body of this celestial dragon is marked by

prominent crossed bands, and both are depicted in pos-tures of either disgorging or swallowing an object. Inthe case of Monument 5 that object is a human figure.


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gous to the depiction of the Water Dancing Groupat Chalcatzingo. A close examination reveals thesesimilarities. However, a brief analysis of the subjectcontent of the Water Dancing Group is necessary inorder to more fully realize those similarities.

The posture and the overall context of the

saurian supernaturals depicted in the ChalcatzingoWater Dancing Group are strikingly similar to reallife crocodilian behavior (Reilly 1990: 162). Duringthe mating seasonwhich on the Mexican Gulf Coast corresponds to the beginning of the rainyseasoncrocodilian species engage in a court-ship rituals commonly referred to as Bellowing,Headslap, or water dancing (Ackerman 1988; Vliet1989) Crocodilian water dancing, known to occur in at least 10 species of crocodilians (Ackerman

1988: 66; Vliet 1989: 1030), begins with crocodil-ians belly-down in shallow water: they then lifttheir heads at an angle of some 30 or 40 degrees.They then arch their tails and puff up their throats

behind closed jaws. From the clenched jaws amighty bellow comes which often can be heard for

at least a mile (Vliet 1989: 1021). However, beforethis roar or boom is heard issuing from the croco-dilians raised head and clamped jaws a remarkable

phenomena occurs. In males, the alligator thenvisibly tenses and produces an infrasonic single so

powerful that water dances up around the alliga-tors torso (Vliet 1989: 1021). The overall effect of these vibrations is analogous to a struck tuning fork

being immersed in a glass of water (Toops 1979:28). In the case of the American alligator ( Alligator mississippiensis ), the frequency of the vibrationssometimes sets the water dancing to a height of 25cm behind the crocodilians head. This incredible

vibratory display has even been known to causenearby solid objects to vibrate (Vliet 1989: 1022).The overall visual effect of water dancing is thatof the splashing of raindrops on the surface of stillwater, or as Ackerman describes it:

A large alligator stretches high out of the water,swinging its tail up as a counterweight, so itcan lift its enormous head. Then it puffs up itsthroat, and its tail waves like an Irish setters.The water suddenly dances high all around its

body in an effervescent fountain full of sparklein the sunlight, and a thundering bellow fills

the air like distant war games. Another alliga-tor rises up with tail waving, gulps hugely,drops down, tenses up; then the water frizzlesall around it, as if someone were spraying dia-monds from an atomizer, and at last it bellows.Few sights are so astonishing (1988: 65).

As Ackerman also observes, crocodiliansanswer each others booming; in fact, alligatorsat the St. Augustine, Florida alligator farm have

been known to bellow in response to sonic boomsemitted by the space shuttle as it flies overheadafter taking off from Cape Canaveral (Ackerman1988: 64). But more importantly, for my argu-ment, crocodilian booming has been compared tothunder (Ackerman 1988: 64), and occurs amongthe crocodilian species of the Gulf Coast Olmecheartland at the time of year when heavy thunder storms announce the beginning of the rainy season.It is not then too far fetched to see, in the ideologyof Formative Period Mesoamerica, an association

between crocodilians, water dancing, thunder-like7

Fig. 11 a. Copan Structure 10L-29 (From Freidel et al. 1993: 189, fig 4.4). The T632/muyal faade detailshelp to identify this Late Classic Maya structure asa temple devoted to ancestral contact. b Detail fromChalcatzingo Monument 1 (drawn by the author).

The enthroned figure from Chalcatzingo Monument 1 is seated on a Lazy-S and carries a Lazy-S-shaped ceremonial bar. In this context, the Lazy-S motif maybe functioning as a symbolic locative identifying the

sky as the location of the enthroned figure.


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bellowing, and the rainfall responsible for vegeta-tive fecundity

When the posture of the saurian super-naturals placed atop Lazy-S elements in the Water Dancing Group is closely examined, it is difficult todeny that several of them appear to be engaged in

water dancing and bellowing (fig. 9). Just as withtheir real life counterparts, the tails of two of thesesaurian supernaturals are arched, their heads areraised, their jaws are closed, and from those closed

jaws what appear to be speech scrolls emerge. Itis important to add that alligators can emit vapor from their nostrils when they bellow (Ackerman1988:52). Directly above these posturing super-naturals, the cloud symbols disgorge their load of

phallic-shaped raindrops, perhaps in response tothe booming of the water dancing supernaturals

perched on their Lazy-S elements directly below. Inresponse to the falling rain drops, the highly natu-

ralistic squash plants sprout in different stages of development directly beneath the Lazy-S elements.The implication of my hypothesis is that within theChalcatzingo Water Dancing Group, saurian super-naturals, depicted in the act of water dancing and

bellowing, are linked, by what is, in effect, sympa-thetic magic, with rain fall and vegetative fertility.

Within the overall composition of theChalcatzingo Water Dancing group, exclamation

point-shaped rain drops fall from the clouds ontothe saurian supernaturals perched atop Lazy-S ele-

ments. Furthermore, beneath these Lazy-S elements,squash plants flourish, strongly suggesting a con-cept of layering similar to that depicted on page 68aof the Dresden codex. In the Dresden Codex, rainfalls from the T632/muyal onto a Chac and throughthe sky band into another space. Within the overallcomposition of the Chalcatzingo Water DancingGroup, this layered concept is identified by threeelements. The first of these, the cloud motif depictsa meteorological and thus a sky event, rain fall-ing from a cloud. The Lazy-S element appears tofunction as a symbolic locator, placing the sauriansupernaturals above the earthly level, thus in the

sky, but below the celestial level in which thecloud motifs are positioned. That the Lazy-S couldidentify a specific celestial level location is further supported by the double scrolls which emerge fromthe mouths of the saurian supernaturals and almost

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Fig. 12 a. Maya Vision Serpent, arising from a bloodletting bowl and disgorging an ancestor (drawing from Scheleand Freidel 1990: 69, fig. 2.3). b. Chalcatzingo Monument 1 as a Formative Period equivalent to Classic Mayadepictions of vision serpents (drawing by Frances Pratt in Gay 1972: 411, fig. 11).


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seem to touch, but not quite, the clouds above.Below the Lazy-S elements are positioned thesquash plants which both metaphorically and actu-ally represent the earthly domain. Thus it can beargued that the cloud motif and the Lazy-S elementare not only interchangeable as meteorological

elements but are also representative of differentcelestial levels.Another rock carving at Chalcatzingo that

supports a celestial identification for the Lazy-S aswell as the concept of a Middle Formative layeredsky realm is Monument 5 (fig. 10). ChalcatzingoMonument 5 consists of a large undulating reptili-an-like creature with a crocodilian head (Grove andAngulo 1987: 122). The body of this zoomorphicsupernatural is incised with a crossed bands motif and other badly eroded markings that have beenvariously interpreted as feathers, fish scales, or crocodilian skin (Angulo 1987: 147). This fearsome

creature is depicted in the act of either devouring or regurgitating a human figure. This human figure isclearly delineated except for his left leg which isdeep within the zoomorphic supernaturals throat.Beneath the zoomorphic supernatural are threeLazy-S motifs.

The crossed bands motif, which is incisedat the top of the largest hump in the zoomorphicsupernaturals body has long been recognized, alongwith its other associations, as a prominent sky sym-

bol (Coe 1977: 189). The crossed bands symbol iscontained within the sky band on which the twoChacs sit on page 68a of the Dresden Codex. The

crossed bands is almost always featured in ClassicMaya sky bands as well as being frequently placedon the body of the celestial dragon (Pax 1982: 38).The presence of the crossed bands motif on thezoomorphic supernatural is highly reminiscent of the Maya celestial dragon. The added fact that theMonument 5 zoomorphic supernatural is placedabove three Lazy-S Symbols helps not only toidentify that zoomorphic supernatural as a celestialdragon, but further supports my contention that theLazy-S, likes its Maya counterpart, the T632/muyalhieroglyph, can designate a celestial level.

Monument 5 and the Water Dancing Groupcontain iconographic evidence which supports mycontention that the Middle Formative inhabitants of Chalcatzingo shared, with the Classic Maya, a belief in a layered sky realm. Chalcatzingo Monument 1contains dramatic evidence that the sky level iden-tified by the Lazy-S symbol, like its Classic Mayacounterpart, T632/muyal, has a strong associationwith ancestors. Stones argument that the ClassicMaya T632/muyal sky level has an ancestor asso-

ciation is based on ethnographic, epigraphic, andiconographic evidence. However, Stones hypoth-esis is also supported by the faade elements onStructure 10L-29 at the Classic Maya site of Copan.Freidel, Schele and Parker (1993) have commentedon the use of the muyal glyph as an element in the

architectural detail of Copan Structure 10L-29.This recently excavated Late Classic Period Mayastructure has been identified by its excavators as anancestral temple (Andrews and Fash 1992). Thisidentification is based on the fact that the faadeis decorated with ancestral cartouches, inverted Ik niches, death masks, the number 10 with its strongdeath associations, and multiple representations of the T632/muyal symbols (Andrews and Fash 1992:73-74), (fig. 11a). The excavators state that in thecase of these T632/muyal faade elements on struc-ture 10L-29 the scrolls could conceivably doubleas both clouds and the smoke from a bloodletting

ritual used to call forth the ancestors (Andrews andFash 1992: 74).Certainly, the central seated figure in

Chalcatzingo Monument 1 is enthroned on a Lazy-S while carrying a Lazy-S in its arms in a ceremo-nial bar posture. In several sculptural contexts,I have demonstrated that the Lazy-S carries astrikingly similar meaning to the Classic MayaT632/muyal glyph. Taking this analogy one stepfurther, it appears that here, on monument 1, theLazy-S on which the central figure is seated, func-tions as a locator in the same way that it establisheda sky location for the saurian supernaturals in the

Chalcatzingo Water Dancing Group. Quite literallythis bench is a sky throne while the Lazy-S held

by the seated figure is an equivalent to the ClassicMaya double-headed sky bar (fig. 11b).

If in the Classic Maya context, ancestorsare strongly associated with a celestial location,they are manifested in natural space by the smokearising from burning, bloodied, bark paper. Thesmoke arising from the bloodletting bowl was notonly understood to be the vision serpent whichdisgorged the ancestral vision, but was so depictedin artistic compositions (Schele and Miller 1986:187; Schele and Freidel 1990: 68-69; Tate 1992:88-92), (fig. 12a). Just as Classic Maya ancestorsare depicted as emerging from the mouths of smokegenerated vision serpents, the seated figure inChalcatzingo Monument 1 is framed by the mouthof a supernatural (fig. 12b). Just as the ClassicMaya vision serpent is generated in smoke, thisgaping maw which holds the sky enthroned figurealso disgorges great swirls of smoke. If my hypoth-esis is correct, then the central seated figure on

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Chalcatzingo Monument 1 can be classified as anancestral figure who is being manifested into natu-ral space through the swirls of smoke which gener-ates from the gaping mouth zoomorphic supernatu-ral. This ancestor figure interpretation is further supported by the Lazy-S throne which locates the

seated figure in a celestial realm.In conclusion, I have tried to do four thingsin this article. First I have demonstrated that thereis a functional iconographic similarity betweenT632/muyal and the Formative Period Lazy-S sym-

bol. Secondly I have established a rule of icono-graphic substitution using the cloud, Lazy-S, andrain drop motifs from the Formative Period corpusof symbols. Thirdly even though Maya scholarsdo not now necessarily exclusively associate theMain sign of T632 with blood, there appears to bedefinite bloodletting associations contained withinthe layers of meaning carried by the Lazy-S in the

Formative Period. Finally, I have shown that thereexists a grammar within the Formative Periodcorpus of symbols. Within this symbol composedgrammar, some elements function as symbolic loc-atives and others as symbolic verbs. Recognizingthe existence of this symbolic grammar allowsinterpretations of actions, locations and identitieswithin Formative Period art which was not wholly

possible before. Thus further proof exists to supportnot only Justeson and Kaufmans hypothesis thatthe origin of Mesoamerican hieroglyphic writingshould be sought amongst the Formative PeriodOlmec culture, but that the origin of the symbols

which visually defined Mesoamerican ideology,throughout its long history, should be sought in theFormative Period as well.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I wish to thank David Grove who firstmade me aware of the discovery of ChalcatzingoMonument 31, and Logan Wagner for supply mewith the photographs from which the drawings of Monument 31 in this article are based. I would alsolike to thank David Stuart who in several telephoneconversations guided me through his and StephenHouston's epigraphic decipherment of the ClassicMaya T632. Most particularly I wish to thank Barbara MacLeod for her insights into the ideologi-cal functions of the Maya sky realms, and AndreaStone for her generous sharing of her material onthe T632/muyal both in a verbal and written form.Finally I would like to dedicate this paper to Dr. D.J. and Mrs. Jane Sibley for their constant supportfor research into the ancient American past.

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